Hall’s defeat may have Texas Republicans looking over shoulders

WASHINGTON — Texas has sent 52 Republicans to the U.S. House. Until this spring, none of them had lost a bid for the party’s nomination to keep the seat.

Then came John Ratcliffe. The former federal prosecutor beat Rockwall Rep. Ralph Hall and punctured that aura of invincibility for Texas Republicans. This made for some slightly awkward introductions as Ratcliffe spent the week in Washington, meeting with his future colleagues.

“He beat a very good friend of mine,” said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington. “There’s not going to be any ill will toward Mr. Ratcliffe. But to say we’re going to welcome him with open arms would be a little strong.”

Barton, like most of the Texas Republicans in Congress, had rallied around Hall, the oldest person to ever serve in the House.

Hall has been more than magnanimous in defeat. He brought Ratcliffe to the delegation’s weekly lunch Thursday and squired him around the Capitol all week, reminding colleagues that even if he’d wanted to push his rival under a bus a few months ago, Ratcliffe will be in Congress soon enough. In fact, Ratcliffe will be Hall’s congressman, so Hall wants him to succeed.

“Ralph Hall has been so benevolent and gracious,” said Dallas Rep. Pete Sessions. “It’s about the people of the district, and Ralph Hall recognizes that.”

The undefeated record for incumbent Texas Republicans dates all the way to Reconstruction, when voters sent George Washington Whitmore and William Thomas Clark to Congress. Both had fought for the North. Democrats sent Whitmore packing after a year. Clark lasted a bit longer, though only thanks to a prolonged recount.

Hall hung onto his East Texas seat a whole lot longer. First elected in 1980, he’s now 91.

Ratcliffe, 48, handled the age issue carefully in the campaign; affection for Hall runs deep.

But there are easy proxies for such things: the promise of youthful energy. The hint that an incumbent has served too long and grown out of touch.

Ratcliffe, a former Heath mayor, faces no Democratic opponent in the fall. He says he has no intention of going out of his way to recruit or support a new generation of lawmakers.

But the writing is on the wall for aging incumbents, now that he’s burst the illusion of incumbent invulnerability.

“I’ve met him. I like him all right,” said Johnson, 83, first elected in 1991. “I think you’re trying to make too much out of it.”

Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell, noted that if Hall is unique in losing a GOP primary, Ratcliffe is uniquely deserving of respect for winning.

“No Texan had ever beaten someone running for re-election before. It was an unusual circumstance on both sides,” Marchant said. As for the new guy fitting in, he added: “Ralph has told us that everything was OK between them. He’s kind of given him his blessing.”

Like Johnson and some others, Sessions (59, elected in 1996) dismissed the idea that Ratcliffe represents eventual political doom for incumbents, especially those growing long in the tooth.

“Ralph represented a huge district that changed quickly. It changed quickly with demographics. It changed drastically with the youth of the district,” Sessions said. “He’ll be welcome. He is welcome.”

Even Barton (64, elected in 1984) paired his candid disappointment at Hall’s impending departure with a nod to Ratcliffe’s political timing and skill.

“We respect the process, and he’s earned the right to represent the people of the 4th District. I certainly respect that,” he said.

As for the vanquished smoothing the way for his successor, Barton said, “Ralph is being Ralph Hall, which is the nicest guy in the Congress. … Ralph Hall has been a great congressman. He’s the nicest man I’ve ever met.”

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About Todd J. Gillman

Career track: I started writing for my junior high school newspaper, the Redcoat. In high school, I freelanced a bit for the local weekly,wrote for the school paper and worked on a weekly public access TV news show that was long on enthusiasm and short on production values. During college at Johns Hopkins University, I interned for The Associated Press and later, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. I started at The Dallas Morning News as an intern after graduating from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government with a master's in public policy, got hired on the Texas & Southwest desk and spent the next several years covering plane crashes, hurricanes and state politics. After a few years as a general assignments reporter on the Metropolitan desk, I moved to the City Hall
beat and later, became the local political writer and columnist. I moved
to the Washington bureau after nearly two years as a Dallas-based national
correspondent.

Most unforgettable experience on the job: Talking my way into Ground
Zero on a rainy day a week or so after Sept. 11, and absorbing the enormity
of it all. My dad used to commute through the Trade Center. A close second
would be my first hurricane, when I was still an intern: driving across
the bridge to Galveston in gales strong enough to push my rental car into
the next lane and tear off the rear license plate, which I keep as a souvenir.

Something people don't know about me: I've been having Tex-Mex withdrawal
ever since moving to Washington.

If I had two spare hours, I would: Go hiking with my wife and kids.

How I define a true Texan: The three natives running around my house
yelling for "mama."

Hometown: Livingston, N.J.

Education: Johns Hopkins University, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government